In Love With Mississippi
by Joanna Grant
Summary: Part of the Road series. This story focuses on Scott & Marie's life in Westchester after Logan has moved to England. The rating is M because there is a love scene.


Title: In Love With Mississippi

Series: End of the Road

Author: Karen

Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine, but I can dream, can't I?

Summary: Scott and Marie's 'Date Night'.

Thanks and air kisses to my stellar betas.

Author's note: Just a reminder that "Mississippi" is Scott's nickname for Marie. And after much deliberation, I've finally come up with a nickname for Scott, that I hope you'll think is suitable ~ Rickenbacker. Here's some background information on that name:

The American Ace of Aces, Eddie Rickenbacker, was a successful race car driver, fighter pilot, airline executive, wartime advisor, and elder statesman. Few aces achieved so much in so many different lifetime roles. His twenty-six aerial victories came in only two months of combat flying, a spectacular achievement.

* * *

Rituals. Everyone has rituals and the Summers family was no exception. There was the Saturday night 'at the movies' one – even if it was only in their own suite watching a DVD with everyone in their jammies, the Sunday afternoon drives that always led to the Dairy Queen, or the bath time and bedtime story one – a favorite of Ethan's. Marie joked that Scott should perform 'Rubber Duckie, You're the One' for the annual talent show.

Apart from family rituals, Scott and Marie had a few couple ones too– like bubble baths in the large Roman tub that was installed during the bathroom renovation, or getting different desserts and then sharing them. But of all the rituals, their hands-down favorite were the mini-anniversaries they had throughout the year to celebrate milestones in their relationship. Scott took delight in finding wonderfully appropriate sentimental tokens of affection to present to Marie – like the Lalique crystal vase filled with Hershey's Kisses he'd presented to her on the anniversary of their first kiss or the snowglobe of an Alaskan winter scene to commemorate the first time they'd made love.

The happiness the family radiated affected everyone around them and helped bring a sense of peace and calm to an otherwise turbulent existence. While anti-mutant sentiments and the ensuing problems that caused may have cast a pallor over things in general, Scott could always count on his family to provide a beacon of light in his life. No matter how raucous things got on missions, Marie and the children were the luminosity that guided him home.

Scott believed that Marie loved him – heart, body and soul, but having Logan a whole ocean away still gave him a sense of security. He no longer felt as if he were in competition for his wife and daughter's attention. Marie e-mailed Logan photos of Sara along with, as she called them, 'progress reports', but they were generic in nature and Logan usually replied briefly with little more than a 'thanks and give my angelface a kiss from me'. He sent Sara birthday and Christmas gifts and there were the occasional phone calls, but all in all it had been a quiet two years and Scott had finally stopped worrying about when the peace would be shattered.

Instead he concentrated on more pleasant things like 'date night' ~ the one night of the week that they set aside their 'mom & dad' personas and were simply Scott and Marie. On those nights, Scott would change in the Ready Room and then go upstairs to their suite to pick up his 'date'. They'd go to a restaurant that didn't have a drive-thru window and a children's menu, but did have a liquor license. Usually dinner was followed by a movie, where they sat in the back row and made out like a couple of teenagers. Once they'd gone to a local carnival where Scott had won the ugliest stuffed animal that Marie had ever seen, and which now resided in the toy box with the other hundred critters in Sara's collection. Her favorite was Scarlet O'Beara, the bear that Logan had bought her on their trip to the zoo and despite Scott's attempts to offer her a substitute, she continued to sleep with it every night.

On this particular 'date night' they'd missed the last showing of the movie Marie had chosen because they'd lingered over tiramisu, hot fudge cake and coffee, so they were now heading back to the mansion. Marie watched the landscape slide past the SUV's window, not giving much thought to why they hadn't taken one of the sports cars as usual, when she suddenly realized they were on an unfamiliar road.

"Rickenbacker, I think you made a wrong turn somewhere," she said as she tried to identify anything familiar outside, but failed.

"No, I didn't. It's a surprise," Scott replied and then flashed her the sexy little grin that never failed to make her shiver.

"Motel?" she asked curiously, hoping it wasn't one of those fleabags that lined the turnpike.

"You'll see," he answered mysteriously.

Not that the thought of hot, decadent sex with her husband didn't turn her on immensely, she just wasn't thrilled about the idea of it being in a place that probably charged by the hour. She was about to suggest that they play whatever game he had in mind back in the comfort of their own bedroom when she noticed they weren't anywhere near the turnpike…or any other civilization for that matter. They were on a dark road with the only light in the immediate area coming from the SUV's headlights and the full moon above them. The road inclined slightly before leveling out and Scott finally brought the vehicle to a halt, put it into park and turned off the ignition. They were on a hillside overlooking the twinkling lights of Salem Center and they weren't the only ones there. Recognition finally dawned on Marie. She'd heard the students at Xavier's talk about this place. They were at the most popular destination spot of horny teenagers countywide.

"You brought me to Make Out Point?" she giggled.

He gave her a heated look and revealed tonight's game, "I'm the town's resident bad boy and you're the innocent new girl who I've brought up here to …" he purposely trailed off letting Marie fill in the blank with her own imagination.

"I guess this is the part where I blush and act shocked at what you might wanna do to me," she said as she scooted across the seat toward him.

"No _might_ about it – definitely wanna do to you," he said as he put his hand under her chin, leaned in and softly brushed his lips over hers in a light caressing kiss.

"Hmmm," Marie murmured encouragingly.

"Let's have a little mood music," he said as turned the ignition key to the auxiliary position and turned on the stereo.

The sound of Barney singing about friendship surrounded them and Scott immediately hit the eject button of the CD player.

"I can't make out to Barney," he said as tossed the offending disc into the back seat.

"You're the one who suggested we take the mom-mobile," Marie reminded him, fighting the urge to laugh.

Scott just grinned as he leaned over and opened the glove compartment.

"There has to be something in here besides the musical stylings of a six-foot purple dinosaur," he said as he picked through the assortment of CDs. "Let's see … 'Cookie Monster Sings The Blues'. Nope. 'The Muppets Present …Oklahoma'. Not in this lifetime. Ah, here we go – Sade. Now that's more like it."

He popped the disc into the deck and the velvety-smooth voice of Sade settled over them as they resumed making out.

Marie let out a sigh as Scott's firm lips settled over hers. Soon they were both drowning in sensation as their tongues explored each other's mouths. Scott leaning on the horn made them jump and finally pull apart – both gulping for air. He pushed the adjustable steering column as high as it would go, hopefully out of their way, and then they dove for each other again – hands and mouths everywhere.

"You know for an innocent, you're not putting up much resistance," Scott mumbled against her throat as he cupped her breasts through her plum-colored silk blouse.

"Sorry, Rickenbacker, but I'm way too horny to play anymore," Marie replied as she undid the buttons of his white cotton shirt, parted the material and then pushed it off of his shoulders. Skimming one hand over the warm skin of his muscular chest she stroked the other one over the prominent bulge in his carefully pressed navy-colored slacks, "I am, however, hungry for another kind of dessert," she added as she deftly undid his belt and pulled down the zipper.

Tugging down the black briefs and freeing his erection, she lowered her mouth onto him – taking him all the way to the back of her throat in one smooth motion.

"Holy shit!" Scott exclaimed as the wet heat of her mouth wholly engulfed him.

Usually she started off by licking the head and taking him into her mouth a teasing inch at a time. Not that he was about to start complaining about her new approach – no siree. Little hisses of pleasure escaped from his lips as she stroked her tongue up and down the shaft. Wanting his wife's talented mouth on his cock for as long as possible, he attempted to maintain control. He squeezed his eyes shut as his approaching orgasm vibrated his scrotum. Marie's tongue swirled around the head, then brushed over the slit and Scott's tremulous hold on his control was shot to hell.

With an upward thrust of his hips and a throaty groan he climaxed and emptied himself into her mouth. Marie swallowed, and then releasing him from her mouth she sat up and said with a smile, "Damn, you taste better than Carnation Coffee-Mate."

As he adjusted his clothing, Scott grinned at that. It was their private joke. When they'd first gotten together and were beginning to experiment, he'd talked her into giving him a blowjob by telling her that he'd heard *it* tasted like liquid coffee creamer. Of course now whenever he asked her if she'd like some 'creamer' she would blush fetchingly, and sometimes even giggle, which made the other residents of the mansion wonder what was so amusing.

"Speaking of tasting things," Scott said as he reached for the buttons of her silk blouse.

He parted the fabric to discover she was wearing a black lace demi-bra that barely contained her creamy breasts. It also had a front closure – notching up the easy accessibility factor. One small snap later and her pink nipples were revealed to his appreciative gaze. He let out a sigh as bent his head to lick one pert bud before taking it into his mouth and sucking gently. Marie released a breathy moan as the familiar heat of desire bumped up a few more degrees and she felt herself get moist. Scott gave the other nipple the same treatment and then nudged her backward so that she was now lying down.

"Oh God, I want you in me now," she said in the breathy turned-on tone that Scott knew was reserved just for him.

He pushed the little black skirt up until it was bunched around her waist, she never wore pantyhose on date night, but tonight she hadn't bothered with panties either and his hard-on was instantly renewed at the wanton sight. He pressed tender kisses to the skin just above her right knee as she wiggled a little.

"Scott," she whimpered.

He smiled against her skin and continued to inch his way up teasingly slowly.

"Scott," she repeated, only this time it was tinged with a pleading edge.

"What?" he asked with feigned innocence.

"You know what," she replied and gave another wiggle.

"Come on, Mississippi, I want you to tell me."

"I want…." She hesitated. Her shyness, despite all the raunchy things they'd done over the years, always delighted him.

"Yes, go on," he said encouragingly. He loved coaxing out Marie's inner vixen.

"I want … either your mouth **on **me, or your cock **in** me," she blurted out and then covered her face with her hands.

Scott reached up and pulled her hands away from her pink-stained cheeks.

"Don't do that – 'cause I want you to watch what I'm gonna do to you," he said huskily.

Marie let out a squeak, dropped her hands to her sides and then propped herself up to watch him slide down and put his face back between her legs. This time he didn't tease and stroked his tongue over her – alternating between long slides and brush-stroke like licks that sent pulses of pleasure rippling through her. The same mouth that barked out orders to teammates in the Danger Room and on missions, that crooned silly songs and read bedtime stories to their children was now happily engaged in something far more lascivious. She'd overheard the comments about his physical attractiveness and the speculation regarding his prowess in bed and surmised that he probably had a starring role in the fantasy lives of quite a few of the mansion's female population. And he was all hers. Marie knew she was one lucky woman.

God she loved the moments like these when he forgot about being the team leader or a daddy and was just a man. Her man. Who was intent on giving her an earth-shattering orgasm. He did the *tickle*, as she referred to the technique that always sent electrical sparks coursing through her and took her over the edge.

"Scott!" She screamed as the sparks burst into flame and consumed her.

He sat up, thoroughly pleased with himself and promptly leaned on the horn again.

"That's it, we're getting in the back seat," he said as he lumbered over the back of the seat and pulled her over with him. They landed in a tangle of limbs and partially removed clothing.

"Smooth move, Rickenbacker," Marie laughed as she tried to maneuver into a more comfortable position.

"Sorry, babe – it's been awhile since I was a horny teenager making out in my car," Scott replied as he tried to rearrange his own limbs.

"You mean I'm not the first woman you took 'parking'?" Marie said in mock indignation.

"No, but you're gonna be the last."

"Good answer."

They helped each other shed the remnants of their clothes and maneuvered into a position that was conducive for making love.

"Ya know, a fleabag motel is starting to sound a lot more appealing," Marie said with a smile as Scott settled himself between her legs.

"The next vehicle I restore is gonna be one of those vans with a mattress in the back."

"Like they had in the 70's, with the shag carpet on the ceiling and an eight-track tape player?"

"The works. Only the best for my girl."

"Groovy." Marie laughed as she swept a lock of Scott's hair off his forehead and said, "Thank you for this. For keeping the romance and excitement alive."

"Well, thank you for being so inspiring," he replied and then added, "I love you, Mississippi," as he leaned down for a tender kiss.

They made love leisurely – twice – before heading back to the mansion and spending most of the night continuing to pleasure each other.

Ethan's whimpering woke Marie a lot sooner than she would've preferred. She sat up and blinked in an effort to focus on the clock on the nightstand – 5:45 am. Letting out a groan, she eased out of bed quietly so as not to wake Scott, slipped into her robe and walked into their son's room.

"It's okay, Scooter, mommy's here," she said as she knelt beside the toddler's bed.

"Mommy," he moaned pitifully and even in the dim glow from the nightlight Marie could see that his face was covered in a fine sheen of sweat.

Pressing her palm to his forehead confirmed that he was burning hot. She went into the children's bathroom to retrieve the baby thermometer, some liquid Children's Tylenol and a damp washcloth. For once Ethan was too listless to fight being medicated or throw the washcloth off. When the thermometer registered his temperature as 102.5 Marie carried him into the bathroom, filled the tub, stripped off his pajamas and gently lowered him into the lukewarm water.

A few minutes later a yawning, sleep-rumpled Scott appeared in the doorway.

"What's wrong?" he asked, knowing that it wasn't normal for Marie to be bathing one of the kids this early unless they'd thrown up or had a temperature.

"102.5," she answered without turning around.

"I'm calling Jean," he informed her.

"There's no point in waking her up this early. I've already given him some Tylenol and this bath should help cool him off, so there's nothing she can do at this point."

"Okay. Well, is there anything I can do?" he asked.

"Grab a towel from the linen closet, please," she replied still attending to Ethan.

Scott returned with the towel and holding it out to her, said, "Here ya go, babe."

She finally glanced over her shoulder to look at him and saw that he was gloriously naked. Even though she knew it was common for men to wake up with an erection, and it was probably more a need to relieve his bladder than sexual excitement, it still caused a shiver to run through her at the sight of him standing there looking highly aroused. He noticed where her eyes had focused and tossed her a sexy grin.

"I've already peed," he revealed.

"Oh," was all she could say, a blush suffusing her cheeks. _Busted._

Scott let out a clipped laugh. "Mississippi, you can stare at my dick anytime."

"Scott," she said with a glare and a nod of her head in the direction of their son as she lifted him out of the tub and wrapped him in the fluffy towel.

"He doesn't understand when we talk dirty to each other."

"Wanna bet?" she replied, "He's starting to parrot everything and it'd be really embarrassing if he repeated something rude he's overheard you say."

"Well then – put him back in his bed and come back to our room where I can whisper dirty things to you in private," Scott said as he gave his son a quick peck on the cheek and then sauntered back to their bedroom.

Marie blushed even deeper than before.

With such a great incentive, she quickly dressed Ethan in a fresh pair of pajamas and returned him to his bed. She took just enough time to be certain that he was as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances, then went back into her own room to take Scott up on his offer. He was reclining casually on a pile of pillows with a look that was a mixture of playfulness and heated promise. Her heart rate jumped as her eyes swept over his fabulous musculature and settled on his prominent erection. Unknotting the sash of her robe, she eased the material apart temptingly slow – delighted when she saw him swallow hard. She dropped the robe onto the floor in a silky puddle and just stood there, enjoying the thrill of having him caress her body with his eyes, knowing his hands and mouth would soon follow suit.

Scott patted the space next to him and said, "You better get that sexy little ass of yours over here or I might just have to jump you and take you right there on the floor."

"I'm coming," she said as she climbed onto the bed.

"Oh, I guarantee you'll be coming," he said with a wink.

Marie crawled up the bed, but stopped when she got to his calf muscle, then leaned down and began kissing her way up his leg.

"That tickles," Scott proclaimed as her lips brushed over his inner thigh.

Marie paused and asked, "Want me to stop?"

"Hell no, not when you're almost to my dick."

"Who said I was gonna give you a blowjob?"

For a brief moment Scott looked terribly disappointed, but then the smile that flickered across her face told him that she was just teasing.

"So beautiful, like a work of art," Marie murmured as she stroked him lightly and then dropped a kiss on the head.

"Marie," Scott moaned.

"Yes?" she asked, pretending not to know what he wanted.

"Come on, baby," he urged.

She dragged her tongue up his length from base to tip and then swirled it around the head.

"Quit teasing and suck me," he choked out in frustration.

Pleased with herself that she'd gotten him to talk dirty, she took him into her mouth and began sucking him in the way she knew brought him the most pleasure.

"Oh yeah, that's it," Scott groaned as the familiar warmth of her mouth engulfed him.

After he'd erupted and she'd swallowed, she dusted a trail of licks and nibbles up his torso until she was snuggled under his arm with her head lying on his chest listening to the hammering of his heart in the aftermath of his powerful orgasm.

"Gimme a minute to catch my breath and I'll return the favor," he promised as he reached down and stroked his hand over the tangle of dark curls between her legs, pleased to find her already moist.

As promised, a few minutes later he was mapping her body with his mouth – paying particular attention to her breasts as she arched into his touch. As he pressed butterfly kisses over her stomach, he murmured her name as if it were a benediction. Ororo may have been the mansion's acknowledged goddess, but it was Marie that Scott worshipped as one.

He then moved even further down, nudged her legs apart and lowered his mouth to taste her. It only took a few firm licks on her aching center for her to go over the edge, screaming his name in reverence as she did. Having had enough time to recover from his own orgasm, he was hard once again and anxious to sink himself into the welcoming heat of Marie's body. He guided himself to her entrance, slicked his cock with her juices and then penetrated her – slowly. Marie placed her hands on his ass and gave it a squeeze to urge him along; taking the hint he sank in to the hilt.

They writhed together in synchronicity, two people perfectly attuned to one another from years of practice, and climaxed almost simultaneously. After, as they lay boneless in each other's arms, Marie casually traced small circles over Scott's pectoral muscles, which did all kinds of stimulating things to him below his waist. He was just about to roll her under him for another go round when Charles interrupted on the 'brain phone'.

_Scott, I need you to come to my office as soon as possible. We have a situation that requires the immediate deployment of the team. _

"Damnit!" Scott muttered, decidedly unhappy at Xavier's horrible timing.

"Charles?" Marie asked, even though she already knew that particular look of irritation on her husband's face could only mean Charles had 'paged' him.

"I swear that man has the worst timing," Scott huffed in frustration.

"It could've been even worse – it could've been a couple of minutes earlier," she said with a naughty smile that almost made him want to shirk his duties and make love to her again anyway.

Then a horrified thought flashed through Scott's brain that maybe Charles _had _been monitoring them and had politely waited until they were done. He wisely decided not to share that speculation with Marie, as it was bad enough he'd have to try and banish the idea that Charles might voyeuristically be a part of their sex life.

Reluctantly getting out of the bed Scott announced he was going to grab a quick shower, because, as he said with a mischievous wink, it wouldn't be polite to show up for a meeting reeking of sex.

Less than an hour later Scott, already in his leather uniform, returned to their suite to inform Marie that the team was being deployed to quell an FOH uprising in Georgia. He told her that he'd already apprised Charles of Ethan's illness, making it necessary for her to stay home. Marie fixed him with a look that could've peeled the hide off of anything within a 100-yard radius. It wasn't that she even wanted to leave Ethan while he was sick and needing extra 'mommy care', but lately Scott seemed to find the flimsiest excuses for her to sit out missions. She understood his fear that should anything go wrong while they were on a mission together the children would be orphans, but he was even trying to stop her from taking assignments without him.

"Don't give me that look," Scott said, "this isn't just another excuse."

"Isn't it?"

"If I didn't want you on the team anymore, I'd come right out and tell you," he replied, then with a grin added, "Or you know, knock you up again."

Marie smiled and shook her head, "And I always thought it was Logan who had the caveman mentality."

Scott visibly blanched at the mere mention of Logan's name. They'd had too many heated discussions about Logan's on-going presence in their lives – even if it was only perfunctorily. Marie knew that her failure to acknowledge Logan's continued interest was probably more in her than their daughter, frustrated Scott. His contention that whenever he was in England the man would glare at him murderously was met with outright disbelief, which only served to annoy Scott even more. Noticing her husband's adverse reaction and not wishing to start yet another Logan-based argument, Marie wisely avoided any further mention of the Wolverine.

"You don't need an excuse to knock me up, I wanna have a houseful of your babies," she said as she wrapped her arms around Scott's neck, looked into his eyes and gave him a dazzling smile. She was tempted to tell him that along with everything else that had happened so far this morning, Jean had called to inform her that the pregnancy blood test she'd done a couple of days ago had come back positive – the Summers' family tree was about to add a new branch. However, she didn't want him distracted too much during the mission and Ethan's illness was already more than enough for him to think about.

Scott forgot all about Logan as he enveloped Marie in his arms, leaned down and laid claim to her lush, perfect lips.

Sara's giggling interrupted them and they reluctantly broke apart.

"Hey, peanut," Scott said bending down to scoop up his daughter to give her a light squeeze and a kiss.

"Daddy, stay home with me and mommy and Ethan," Sara told him in a very serious tone.

"I'll be back before you know it," Scott replied as he tucked a lock of sleep-mussed hair behind her ear.

Turning to Marie, Sara said, "Mommy, make him stay."

Usually the kids were excited about them going on missions as that meant they got a special treat upon their return, so the decidedly worried expression on her daughter's face scared Marie more than she was willing to admit.

"As soon as daddy gets back we'll make some popcorn and watch any movie you want," she offered in an effort to placate the agitated five year-old.

"NO!" Sara insisted loudly and clung tightly to Scott.

"Sara, I have to go," Scott asserted and with a tender kiss on her cheek, he gently pried her off of him and then set her down on the floor.

Looking as if she were about to burst into tears, she scampered out of the room.

"What was all that about?" Scott asked as he gestured towards their daughter's bedroom.

"I have no idea," Marie replied, then with a worried pallor washing over her delicate features, "I just hope she's not manifesting a psychic mutation."

"Not unless you had an affair with Charles that you conveniently forgot to mention," Scott said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"You just thought you were my only visitor when I was living in Alaska," Marie teased right back at him.

Charles telepathically informing Scott that the rest of today's team was already on-board the Blackbird and awaiting their leader and pilot ended any further teasing between the two. He went in to kiss and cuddle his children before departing.

"Is Sara okay now?" Marie asked when he returned.

"Maybe she's coming down with whatever Ethan has and that's got something to do with her anxiety," Scott offered, not wanting to lie and tell her that everything was fine when it wasn't, but at the same time not wishing to raise her own anxiety level either.

"Yeah, maybe," Marie replied, as she realized she also wanted to accept a plausible reason for Sara's unusual behavior.

"Jean's not going on this one, so you should probably have her check over both the kids – you know, just to be on the safe side."

Marie just nodded in agreement. Another gentle telepathic reminder from Charles and Scott knew he couldn't delay leaving any longer.

"I gotta go," he said almost apologetically.

"Be careful," she said unnecessarily.

"Always," Scott answered and pulled her into a 'see you later' hug and kiss – superstitiously they never said "good-bye."

He turned to walk out of their suite and Marie put her hand on his arm.

"Scott," she began, thinking maybe she shouldn't wait to tell him about the baby, then reconsidering, shook her head ruefully and said, "Never mind."

"What?"

"I just have a bad feeling about this," she admitted, feeling guilty that she would be sending him off even more worried.

Instead Scott smiled. "You always say that whenever I go off without you – 'I've got a bad feeling about this.' Nothing's gonna happen to me. You think I'd do something stupid and risk not spending the next fifty years with you?"

Tears welled up in Marie's eyes and she swallowed the lump in her throat. "Of course not."

"Okay then. Keep the sheets warm and the champagne chilled," he said, giving her a playful wink before putting his visor on.

He took off his suppression bracelet and handed it to her.

"I'll be back for this," he said as he closed her hand over it - the metal warm from his body heat.

Marie walked him to the door and gave him one more tender kiss while trying to tamp down the overwhelming urge to beg him to stay, just this once. She watched him walk to the end of the hallway where he turned around and called out, "I love you, Mississippi." And then he rounded the corner and was gone.

THE END

* * *

Please read and review the sequel: "A New Road"


End file.
